GOP Holds Firm On Budget Opposition
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Republican lawmakers in the state Assembly refused to budge Tuesday on Gov. Jerry Brown's call for a special election to maintain recent tax hikes, prolonging uncertainty over how California will close its $26.6 billion deficit.
Brown has imposed a Thursday deadline for the Legislature to reach a budget deal, saying acting any later will jeopardize the ability to call a special election in June, before the start of the next fiscal year.
GOP Assemblyman Jim Nielsen, vice chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee, said talks have barely begun in the Assembly, even as five Republican senators announced they were resuming negotiations with the governor.
Republicans are the minority party, but two GOP votes are needed in each house to reach the two-thirds threshold for the Legislature to place a measure on the ballot.
"The likelihood of any bipartisan agreement is very remote," Nielsen said.
The Democratic governor wants voters to authorize extensions of temporary increases in the sales, personal income and vehicle taxes enacted two years ago as part of his plan to close the deficit. He also proposed cutting $12.5 billion in spending.
"I say we should let the people vote. That's democracy, and a handful of people in Sacramento shouldn't bottle things up so that the people can't be heard," Brown told reporters Tuesday after meeting with Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento.
Brown said there was a little movement from the five Republican senators but "not as much as I want." On Monday, the group sent Brown a letter telling him it appeared they had reached an impasse in discussions with him.
"We met again with Gov. Brown out of a mutual desire to keep the conversation moving forward," Sens. Tom Berryhill of Modesto, Sam Blakeslee of San Luis Obispo, Anthony Cannella of Ceres, Bill Emmerson of Redlands and Tom Harman of Huntington Beach said in a joint statement Tuesday. "Until we are told otherwise, we will be optimistic that the governor is working hard to find the necessary support for the key reforms we have put forward."
Whether Republicans commit to voting for the budget plan or not, Steinberg said the Senate would take up the full budget package starting Thursday. He said Brown was specific with Republicans about what compromises he was prepared to make to get a deal, but he warned the minority party not to overreach in negotiations.
"We're prepared to pass cuts -- we assume there'll be Republican votes for cuts -- and they'll be able to pass them," Steinberg said. "Now if the Assembly passes them as well, they get sent to the governor. I assume he would sign cuts. We're very serious about this. This is not a game."
Any such vote would address only the cuts proposed by Brown, leaving lawmakers to contend with at least another $12 billion shortfall.
Negotiations are less advanced in the Assembly, which has scheduled a session Thursday but made no announcements about a possible budget vote.
Nielsen said Thursday's deadline was politically driven and the Legislature doesn't need a special election to make cuts. He also noted that voters have rejected recent tax measures, including an earlier effort to extend the temporary tax hikes and an $18 vehicle license surcharge for state parks.
"I do not see taxes or tax extensions are the answer," he said
Brown continued to gain endorsements Tuesday for his budget plan, winning support from business and law enforcement groups.
Carl Guardino, president and chief executive of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, urged Republicans to support the special election vote, as did several small-business groups.
"For small business, the idea of extended taxes (is) tough to stomach, but we firmly believe the voters of California have the right to decide whether they want tax extensions," said Betty Jo Toccoli, president of the California Small Business Association.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
